Chichibu Main Line

Chichibu Main Line
Chichibu Railway 5000, 6000, and 1000 series EMUs stabled next to Kumagaya Station, December 2007
Overview
Native name	秩父本線
Locale	Saitama Prefecture
Termini	Hanyū Mitsumineguchi
Stations	35
Operation
Opened	1901
Owner	Chichibu Railway
Depot(s)	Hirosegawara
Technical
Line length	71.7 km (44.6 mi)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Minimum radius	149 m
Operating speed	85 km/h (55 mph)

SL Paleo Express

The Chichibu Main Line (秩父本線 Chichibu-honsen) is a railway line in Japan, owned by Chichibu Railway, which links Hanyū and Mitsumineguchi, both in Saitama Prefecture.

Locals living around the line call it the Chichibu Line (秩父線 Chichibu-sen). This is not to be confused with Seibu Railway's nearby Seibu Chichibu Line, which is almost always referred to in full to avoid ambiguities.

Stations

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Local service to/from Seibu Chichibu Line		Chichibuji Express	SL Paleo Express	Transfer	Location
		Between Stations	Total
Hanyū	羽生	-	0.0			○		Tōbu Isesaki Line	Hanyū
Nishi-Hanyū	西羽生	1.2	1.2			｜
Shingō	新郷	1.4	2.6			｜
Bushū-Araki	武州荒木	2.2	4.8			｜			Gyōda
Higashi-Gyōda	東行田	2.5	7.3			｜
Gyōdashi	行田市	1.0	8.3			○
Mochida	持田	1.8	10.1			｜
Kumagaya	熊谷	4.8	14.9			●	●	Jōetsu Shinkansen, Hokuriku Shinkansen, Takasaki Line (Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Ueno-Tokyo Line)	Kumagaya
Kami-Kumagaya	上熊谷	0.9	15.8			｜	｜
Ishiwara	石原	1.2	17.0			｜	｜
Hirose-Yachō-no-Mori	ひろせ野鳥の森	1.5	18.5			｜	｜
Ōasō	大麻生	1.3	20.3			｜	｜
Aketo	明戸	2.6	22.9			｜	｜		Fukaya
Takekawa	武川	1.9	24.8			●	●	Chichibu Railway: Mikajiri Freight Line
Nagata	永田	2.3	27.1			｜	｜
Omaeda	小前田	3.4	30.5			｜	｜
Sakurazawa	桜沢	1.4	31.9			｜	｜		Yorii, Ōsato District
Yorii	寄居	1.9	33.8			●	●	Hachikō Line Tōbu Tōjō Line
Hagure	波久礼	3.9	37.7			｜	▼
Higuchi	樋口	4.4	42.1			｜	｜		Nagatoro, Chichibu District
Nogami	野上	2.6	44.7			●	｜
Nagatoro	長瀞	1.8	46.5	●		●	●
Kami-Nagatoro	上長瀞	1.1	47.6	●	Through operation to Seibu-Chichibu (Seibu Chichibu Line)	｜	｜
Oyahana	親鼻	1.6	49.2	●		｜	｜		Minano, Chichibu District
Minano	皆野	1.6	50.8	●		●	●
Wadō-Kuroya	和銅黒谷	2.6	53.4	●		｜	｜		Chichibu
Bushū-Haraya Freight Terminal	武州原谷	2.1	55.5	｜		｜	｜
Ōnohara	大野原	1.1	56.6	●		｜	｜
Chichibu	秩父	2.4	59.0	●		●	●
Ohanabatake	御花畑	0.7	59.7	●		●	●	Seibu Chichibu Line (Seibu-Chichibu)
Kagemori	影森	2.7	62.4	Through operation to Yokoze (Seibu Chichibu Line)	●	●	｜
Urayamaguchi	浦山口	1.4	63.8		●	｜	｜
Bushū-Nakagawa	武州中川	2.4	66.2		●	｜	｜
Bushū-Hino	武州日野	1.5	67.7		●	｜	｜
Shiroku	白久	2.7	70.4		●	｜	｜
Mitsumineguchi	三峰口	1.3	71.7		●	○	●

Legend

• ● - All trains stop
• ○ - Some trains stop
• ▲ - Some trains pass
• ▼ - Trains make seasonal stops
• | - All trains pass

Rolling stock

• 5000 series 3-car EMUs (formerly Toei 6000 series) (from 1999)
• 6000 series 3-car EMUs x3 (formerly Seibu 101 series) (from March 2006)
• 7000 series 3-car EMUs x2 (formerly Tokyu 8500 series) (from March 2009)
• 7500 series 3-car EMUs (formerly Tokyu 8090 series) (from March 2010)
• 7800 series 2-car EMUs (formerly Tokyu 8090 series) (from 16 March 2013)
• 12 series passenger coaches (for Paleo Express)
• Class C58 steam locomotive (No. C58 363 for Paleo Express)
• DeKi 100 electric locomotives (x6)
• DeKi 200 electric locomotive (x1)
• DeKi 300 electric locomotives (x3)
• DeKi 500 electric locomotives (x7)

Source: ^[1]

• 

  Chichibu 6000 series(for Chichibuji Express)

• 

  Chichibu 7000 series

• 

  DeKi 102

• 

  DeKi 201

• 

  DeKi 301

• 

  DeKi 507

Rolling stock previously used

• 300 series 2-car EMUs (from 1959 until October 1992)
• 500 series 2-car EMUs (from 1957 until March 1992)
• 800 series 2-car EMUs (formerly Odakyu 1800 series) (from 1979 until 1990)
• 1000 series 3-car EMUs (formerly JNR 101 series) (from 1986 until March 2014)^[2]
• 2000 series 4-car EMUs (formerly Tokyu 7000 series) (from 1991 until 2000)
• 3000 series 3-car EMUs x3 (formerly JR East 165 series) (from 1992 until December 2006)
• 43 series passenger coaches (for Paleo Express)

History

The Jōbu Railway (上武鉄道) opened the section between Kumagaya and Yorii on 7 October 1901 operated by the use of steam haulage.^[3] The line was extended in stages, reaching Chichibu in 1914. The line was electrified at 1,200 V DC on 15 March 1918.^[3] On 1 August 1922, the Chichibu Railway acquired the Hokubu Railway (北武鉄道) operating between Hanyū and Kumagaya.^[3] The line reached Mitsumineguchi in 1930.

From 1 February 1952, The line voltage was raised to 1,500 V DC,^[3] and in 1954 through services to/from the Tōbu Tōjō Line commenced.

The steam locomotive-hauled Paleo Express service commenced in 1988, and the following year through services to/from the Seibu Railway commenced.

Former connecting lines

• Kumagaya Station: The Tobu Kumagaya Line operated between 1943 and 1983.^[4]

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.

1. 私鉄車両編成表 2010 [Private Railway Rolling Stock Formations - 2010]. Japan: JRR. August 2010. p. 15. ISBN 978-4-330-15310-0.
2. 秩父鉄道「さよなら1003号貸切運転・撮影会ツアー」開催 [Chichibu Railway organizes "Farewell 1003 charter train and photographic tour"]. Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 43 no. 361. Japan: Kōtsū Shimbun. 2014. p. 74.
3. Terada, Hirokazu (19 January 2013). データブック日本の私鉄 [Databook: Japan's Private Railways]. Japan: Neko Publishing. p. 36. ISBN 978-4-7770-1336-4.
4. Terada, Hirokazu (October 2003). 私鉄廃線25年 [25 Years of Abandoned Private Railways]. Japan: JTB Can Books. pp. 52–53. ISBN 4-533-04958-3.

External links

• Chichibu Railway website (Japanese)